1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to controlling the operation of equipment by impaired operators, and more specifically to controlling the operation of equipment by operators who show intoxication or other impairment as determined by an expert system safety screening.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Intoxicated or otherwise impaired equipment operators (e.g., physically impaired, medically impaired, or emotionally impaired operators) of equipment (e.g., automobiles, trucks, industrial vehicles, public transportation vehicles, such as buses, subways, trains, planes, and ships, and dangerous machinery in general) needlessly continue to cause many thousands of horrible deaths and injuries each year around the world. The main focus of previous efforts has been alcoholic or drug intoxication of vehicle operators, since this continues to be the most prevalent type of dangerous equipment operator impairment. Though systems have been devised that disable a vehicle based on an operator's alcohol level, such systems have been too complex, and have not been employed as they are usually too expensive, too annoying for an operator to tolerate on a daily basis, and/or simply too easy for an operator to circumvent. Some systems have used coordination measurement that requires the user to push buttons in a random order within a given amount of time in order to allow the vehicle to be started. Other systems have used detectors for analyzing the breath of the vehicle operator in order for the operator to start a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,653 issued to Bellehumeur, on May 3, 2005, discloses a system including a galvanic skin sensor that can provide trans-dermal monitoring of a person's skin for ascertaining whether or not the person has consumed alcohol and the person's skin temperature. The sensor is connected through an actuating switch control system that is mounted electrically, typically within the vehicle ignition system that can act as a cutoff switch based on the various inputs from the trans-dermal sensor. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,301 issued to Ryu, on Jun. 8, 2004, discloses an apparatus and method for prevention of driving of motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and prevention of vehicle theft, in which a voice and a voice secret code of an authorized driver is stored by learning through a voice recognition apparatus and microphone mounted in the vehicle, and then the breath of an intended operator is detected when the driver says the secret code to check whether or not the operator is legally drunk, and also the intended operator's voice secret code is compared to the stored voice and voice secret code. The driver is allowed to start the vehicle only when the operator is not legally drunk and the voice secret code matches the stored voice secret code. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20020084130 published by Der Ghazarian, et al., on Jul. 4, 2002, discloses a voice recognition breathalyzer comprising a microphone for transducing spoken expression into electronic signals and a breathalyzer sensor for transducing breath content into electronic signals. It includes an audio and breathalyzer sensor circuit for conditioning the electronic signals from the microphone and breathalyzer sensor; a memory storage for storing speech templates and toxic breath setting; a processor for processing the conditioned electronic signals and for simultaneously comparing the processed, conditioned electronic signals with the speech templates and the toxic breath setting threshold stored in the memory storage, generating a unique signal when the processed, conditioned electronic signals are substantially similar to one of the speech templates and below the toxic breath setting threshold. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,615 issued to Ivey Jr., et al., on Oct. 19, 1999, discloses a system for monitoring and covering the use of a hand-operated machine by an impaired individual through detection of toxins in the individual. This system uses vapor from an individual's hands drawn through a sampling apparatus. The resultant signal is used to estimate the alcoholic content of the individual. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,292 issued to Ivey Jr., on Aug. 11, 1998, discloses a device to prevent hand operated machines from being operated by an impaired individual by measuring toxins in the person using sensors that interact with the vehicle. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,161 issued to Conners, et al., on Feb. 26, 1991, discloses a breath alcohol testing system that may be used in conjunction with a vehicle. Although the breath-analyzer may be highly accurate, its interaction with a vehicle that requires a person to breathe into a facemask is likely to annoy the operator. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,333 issued to Collier, et al., on Apr. 19, 1988, discloses a sobriety interlock system that prevents a vehicle or other equipment from being started unless the identity of a designated operator is confirmed by the system and the operator passes a breath sobriety test. The designated operator is trained to perform a physical act, the successful completion of which can be determined by the system and which requires at least a predetermined number, N, of attempts to learn. A necessary precondition for starting the vehicle is satisfied when the system determines that the identity-confirming act has been performed in fewer than N attempts. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,845 issued to DuBois, on Sep. 23, 1986, discloses an apparatus for preventing operation of machinery by an intoxicated operator, using an alcohol sensor located near the control panel on a portion of the steering wheel. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,443 issued to Simon, on Jun. 3, 1986, discloses a sobriety interlock that includes an apparatus for detecting alcohol on the breath that is connected to the ignition system of a vehicle. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,382 issued to Gaddy, on Jul. 9, 1974, discloses a system for inhibiting motor vehicle operation by intoxicated drivers. This device uses a breath-analyzer that measures the alcohol level using a chemical reaction in order to prevent the car from starting. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,116 issued to Takeuchi, et al., on May 14, 1974, discloses a device for detecting mental impairment in a driver that includes a degree of fatigue or drunkenness, judging the mental ability of the operator for operating a vehicle. The nature of this system appears likely to limit its use, but the disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
While many of the systems in the prior art cleverly and impressively attempt to solve the problem of preventing a person who is intoxicated from operating a vehicle, the systems typically can still be circumvented by accident or by intent. Furthermore, these systems usually cannot detect the physically impaired, medically impaired, or emotionally impaired operators if they are otherwise sober. And due to their time-consuming or intrusive nature, they are usually likely to annoy an operator to such an extent as to motivate the operator to do whatever is necessary to intentionally circumvent the system, defeating the entire purpose of the system. Furthermore, any one prior art system alone can experience a likelihood of incorrectly detecting operator intoxication or impairment when the operator is not intoxicated or impaired (i.e., a false positive), or incorrectly missing operator intoxication or impairment when the operator is truly intoxicated or otherwise truly impaired (i.e., a false negative).
What is needed is a system that overcomes these problems with a screening approach to minimize the annoyance to an equipment operator and increase the probability of correctly controlling the operation of equipment by a truly intoxicated or otherwise truly impaired equipment operator.